In the 1990s, Silverado started by buying Stockton stations: KWG and sister station KYBB, KWIN, KCVR and KJOY, before moving to acquisitions in Modesto and Reno.

Stockton radio people were astonished. "The people there were like, 'Good God, we're owned by the heir of Mickey Mouse,' " said former radio personality Bill Slayter.

To this day, almost nobody knows Disney's daughter had an interest in Stockton radio. Diane Disney Miller wanted it that way.

"Ron and Diane both were that way," said Roy Williams, who managed Silverado's cluster of stations. "They were just very private people. They didn't want anyone to think of them any different than Ron and Diane Miller."

Silverado sold its stations in the 2000s. But the radio people from that era remember hobnobbing with Diane Disney Miller.

"She was a very dynamic person," Williams said. "Can you imagine, growing up as the daughter of Walt Disney?"